by Walther Ploos van Amstel
It is in the common interest of local authorities and businesses to optimize city logistics, yet far too often they operate in isolation, without the necessary cooperation and agreement. Through bringing together the local actors as part of a collaborative planning process, meaningful plans for action can be developed.
In the last few years, the issue of the location of logistics activities emerged in the literature, in Europe, and in the US, especially from the perspective of logistics spatial dynamics as logistics sprawl. These issues of spatial dynamics question urban policies because they underline the lack of interest in freight in the planning process.
A TU Delft student wrote a thesis exploring how reinterpretate and revitalise underused areas in the modernist urban fabric of Rotterdam. Since Rotterdam was bombed during the Second World War, a whole new modernist city could arise. The Reconstruction plan can still be seen as a manifesto of modern architecture and urbanism.
The acceleration of economic globalization and integration has led to more logistics activities worldwide and changes in the spatial location of logistics facilities. The location of logistics facilities affects not only cost and efficiency of cargo transportation activities but also sustainability of logistics.
With their new paper “Logistics, vital function” (La logistique, fonction vitale), the French institute IAU wishes to sensitize the local actors of the future development in line with the overall regional objectives of “Île-de-France 2030“.
An ambitious project by Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs could reshape how we live, work, and play in urban neighborhoods. Toronto’s waterfront, where the eastern part of the city meets Lake Ontario, is a patchwork of cement and dirt. Torontonians describe the site as blighted, underutilized, and contaminated.
Congestion in our city centers and residential neighborhoods is only getting worse. More deliveries from web stores, especially in the hours when we consumers are at home, means more trucks and delivery vans driving around. The number of deliveries sent between consumers via peer-to-peer sales platforms is growing like crazy. We are picking things up …